1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to a method for preventing the misoperation of an application, and more specifically to a method for interrupting the operator input to a given application by causing a transparent window to appear in front of the application window.
2. Prior Art
In web browser such as Netscape Navigator (trademark of Netscape Corporation) or Internet Explorer (trademark of Microsoft Corporation), for fast net-surfing, even if a button on the browser is pushed and the program corresponding to the button is being executed, the pushing of the particular button or any other button can interrupt that program to execute a different (or the same) program.
For instance, if the button for initiating JavaScript is consecutively pushed twice, the JavaScript started by the first push of the button abends when the button is pushed for the second time, and the JavaScript started by the second push of the button is executed. However, depending on the situation in which the first JavaScript abends, it may have already changed global variables so that the JavaScript for the second time cannot operate normally.
Thus, sometimes programmers want to prevent buttons other than a predetermined button from being pushed until the process executed by pushing it terminates.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system in which the misoperation by the operator is invalidated without radically changing the processing of an application.
It is further object of the present invention to provide a system in which, even if the time interval between the normal operation and the misoperation by the operator is very short, the misoperation is invalidated.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a misoperation prevention system by which the system is less burdened in operation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a misoperation prevention system, in which the operator does not feel a sense of incongruity when performing the operation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a misoperation prevention system, in which the resources required at the time of execution are reduced.
A transparent window is previously generated behind an application for which an operator""s misoperation can occur. And, if the occurrence of a predetermined operation on the application is detected, outputting the transparent window in front of the application invalidates the operator""s misoperation such as double-click.
In an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a misoperation prevention method which is executed on an apparatus having a display screen for displaying an application window, and a pointing device for pointing to a position on said display screen, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) generating a transparent window and positioning it behind the application window; and
(b) moving the transparent window in front of the application window in response to the detection of a predetermined operation input using the pointing device.
As used herein, xe2x80x9capplicationxe2x80x9d is a concept that includes not only web browsers described later in the embodiments but also various applications. Further, xe2x80x9cpointing devicexe2x80x9d is a concept that includes mouse, trackball, track point (trademark of IBM (International Business Machines Corporation)), joystick, touch panel, and the like. And, xe2x80x9ctransparent windowxe2x80x9d is a concept that includes the case in which it is partially transparent (or semitransparent), or the case in which it is totally semitransparent.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a misoperation prevention method which is executed on an apparatus having a display screen for displaying an application window, and a pointing device for pointing to a position on the display screen, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) generating a transparent window and positioning it behind the application window;
(b) responding to the detection of a predetermined operation input using the pointing device for executing a process corresponding to the predetermined operation;
(c) moving the transparent window in front of the application window; and
(d) moving the transparent window behind the application window after the execution of the process terminates.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a misoperation prevention method which is executed on an apparatus having a display screen for displaying an application window, a pointing device for pointing to a position on said display screen, and a timer, the method comprising the step of:
(a) generating a transparent window and positioning it behind the application window;
(b) responding to the detection of a predetermined operation input using said pointing device for executing a process corresponding to the predetermined operation;
(c) moving said transparent window in front of the application window; and
(d) moving the transparent window behind the application window in response to a timer interruption that occurs after a predetermined time elapses since the transparent window has been moved in front of the application window in the above step (c).
In a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a misoperation prevention apparatus having a display screen for displaying an application window, and a pointing device for pointing to a position on the display screen, the apparatus comprising:
(a) a transparent window control unit for generating a transparent window, and instructing the operating system to position it behind the application window;
(b) a transparent window main body generated by said operating system; and
(c) a transparent window procedure for instructing the operating system to move the transparent window in front of the application window in response to the detection of a predetermined operation input using the pointing device.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium for storing a software product for misoperation prevention which is executed on an apparatus having a display screen for displaying an application window, and a pointing device for pointing to a position on the display screen, the software product comprising:
(a) a program code for instructing the apparatus to generate a transparent window and position it behind the application window; and
(b) a program code for instructing the apparatus to move the transparent window in front of the application window in response to the detection of a predetermined operation input using the pointing device.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, three is provided a storage medium for storing a software product for misoperation prevention which is executed on an apparatus having a display screen for displaying an application window, and a pointing device for pointing to a position on the display screen, the software product comprising:
(a) a program code for instructing the apparatus to generate a transparent window and positioning it behind the application window;
(b) a program code responsive to the detection of a predetermined operation input using the pointing device for instructing the apparatus to execute a process corresponding to the predetermined operation:
(c) a program code for instructing the apparatus to move the transparent window in front of the application window; and
(d) a program code for instructing the apparatus to move the transparent window behind the application window after the execution of the process terminates.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium for storing a software product for misoperation prevention which is executed on an apparatus having a display screen for displaying an application window, a pointing device for pointing to a position on the display screen, and a timer, the software product comprising:
(a) a program code for instructing the apparatus to generate a transparent window and position it behind the application window;
(b) a program code responsive to the detection of a predetermined operation input using the pointing device for instructing the apparatus to execute a process corresponding to the predetermined operation;
(c) a program code for instructing said apparatus to move the transparent window in front of the application window; and
(d) a program code for instructing the apparatus to move the transparent window behind the application window in response to a timer interruption that occurs after a predetermined time elapses since the transparent window has been moved in front of the application window in the above step (c).